Analog processing equipment for audio is generally expensive due to component costs. Further, the mythology associated with many analog processing products have driven their market value even higher. Some manufacturers of analog processing products have been troubled with “re-issues” of highly coveted products from decades past.
Several manufacturers of digital audio processing products (software and hardware) have gone to great lengths to understand the behavior of analog electronics and their implementations for audio processing, in order to replicate the sounds of the analog product in their own digital version. Yet, the professional music production market still places high value on the use of all analog processing, either because of some perceived value of using vintage equipment or the belief that digital processing, be it performed on PCIe cards, proprietary boxes or using a computer's own CPU, is inferior to the analog processing equivalent.
FIG. 1A illustrates a traditional system 100 used in a music studio by audio engineers. A digital audio workstation (DAW) software program 110 running on a computer 105 can be used to handle an entire production process of recording tracks, applying effects such as EQ and compression, and mixing down to a final deliverable. Yet, audio engineers continue to employ analog outboard gear 125 to augment the production process. Some even go as far as using an analog mixing console 125 to adjust the levels of all the tracks, and simply use the computer 105 as a recorder and playback device. The usefulness of analog outboard gear 125 is subjective, but analog processing is a highly preferable addition to any otherwise all digital production.
The system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1A includes the computer 105 connected to an audio interface 115 via a connection 130, the audio interface 115 connected to a patch bay 120 via connections 135, and the patch bay 120 connected to the analog outboard gear 125 via a separate connection 140 for each individual analog outboard box 125. Each outboard box 125 includes moving parts, such as knobs, switches, sliders, buttons and the like, to set parameter data for altering sound. The analog outboard equipment 125 cannot recall every setting related to the production mix. As such, audio engineers must notate, using pen and paper, what settings were used for each outboard unit 125 used, for every session they do. Audio engineers will do this hundreds of sessions every year, making this process tedious, time consuming and prone to error.
Some equipment manufacturers have created analog outboard gear 125′ that is controllable by the computer 105 via a USB 150, using a plugin (software program) 145 running alongside the DAW software 140 on the computer 105, as shown in another traditional system 100′ illustrated in FIG. 1B. The software control 145 can recall settings for each session and automate certain controls of the analog outboard gear 125′. However, there are several issues with the traditional system 100′. For example, each outboard unit 125, 125′ (collectively, 125) implements a single algorithm that is not reconfigurable, and is only capable of running one channel of audio through it, each with its own parameter settings. The cost of the outboard equipment 125 is the same, if not increased, by the availability of the software control 145. The analog equipment 125 still has all original moving parts, such as knobs, buttons, faders and the like, to set parameter data to thereby adjust the algorithm inside each device 125. The addition of the computer control 145 is auxiliary, not primary. Furthermore, synchronization of audio playback and control changes is not guaranteed, as control changes are sent to the analog equipment 125 along a different signal path than audio signals are sent. The audio signals are routed through digital to analog converters in the audio interface 115 to the analog outboard gear 125, are processed by the analog outboard gear 125, and then are routed through analog to digital converters in the audio interface 115 to be converted back to the digital domain to the computer 105 running the DAW software 110 (namely, connections 130, 135 and 140). Meanwhile, the control signal is sent from the software control 145 via USB (namely, connection 150) to the analog outboard gear 125.